This is our May 2014 update of news from the Respitech group at the WIMR.

This month members of the group attended RDD 2014 in Puerto Rico. The location and science was exceptional and our group presented seven full conference papers (congratulations to Yang, Mehra, YY, Alaa, Eric, Michele and Mariateresa). The 4 page conference abstracts for each are available via the www.rddonline.com publications portal. Paul chaired an interesting session on 'Optimizing Nasal and Pulmonary Formulations' and Yang gave an excellent poster on the podium, discussing the impact of pMDI orifice geometry on electrostatics and aerosol performance.

Members of the RespiTech Team at RDD 2014

Back home, members of the group celebrated the installation of a new flow-cytometer which was the result of our campaign to 'Solve lung disease one cell at a time'. The installation of this facility was via a substantial financial contribution from a kind donor who supports the Woolcock's mission to be Leaders in Breathing and Sleep Research.

www.ecr2star.org received fresh material on the importance and meaning of research metrics. The website also received minor upgrades and the addition of a new archive page of previous articles. Paul discussed the importance of ecr2star at the University of Sydney's Research Bites and we encourage researchers of all ages to get involved!

As usual, we would like to welcome new members to the team. This month Angelo Granieri, from the University of Ferrara, Italy, joins us. Angelo will spend the next 4 months studying aerosol generation of non-newtonian fluids for targeting the upper respiratory tract. Welcome Angelo! Finally, we would like to congratulate Judy Loo for being first author on a paper in Biofouling (IF: 4;) entitled 'Non-cytotoxic silver nanoparticles-polyvinyl alcohol hydrogels with anti-biofilm activity: Designed as coatings for endotracheal tube materials' Good work!